In the early 70's I was an Instructor with the ACU Training Scheme. We asked for a Honda 125 to replace a Bantam which had lost its whirly bits. What we got was a 250 Jawa. God, what a pile it was. No start, run. I scrambled a 250 CZ, which was fun, went like all diddly do. Nearly bought a 250 MZ. It was beautifully built, comfortable and easy to fix. I hung onto the CD175 A pal bought a Ural outfit. Very cheap (unlike todays horrific prices). He had to rebuild it. The bores were .005 oval, all bearings, including the plain ends, only worked where it touched and the electricery non existent. He made a lovely job and it was actually very reliable. Comfortable too. It came with a bloody great crate 2ft x 2ft, full of spares and tools. As far as I know he still has it and we're in our 70's now Thanks for this review. Fascinating stories with wonderful facts to make a lovely mix.
I love the smell of two stroke oil in the morning! I had 5 MZs and loved them all - bullet proof and amazing paintwork - the only drawback was a hideous front brake that was replaced by a licence built Brembo on the ETZ that actually worked, along with autolube and 12v electrics - they now can fetch well over £2k
JAWA and MZ were totally reliable and economic. Ran one of each for years as commuters through winters. No issues. Sold both on for more than I paid for them to. 😊
When I was a boy, my late father spoke in awe of a German combination he acquired after the calamity of Falaise. Huge quantities of German machinery had been left where it sat and he had picked up a BMW combination to use for scouting for CP locations and so on. He'd had it painted khaki over the original feldgrau. He was hugely impressed by German equipment. He told me that this combination had a differential taking drive to both rear wheels; also that it had narrow-bore pipes from the exhausts up to the handlebar, so you could pull a lever to have warm exhaust played over your hands in cold weather. Apparently in the freezing winter of 1944 (Sint-Odenrode, Den' Bosch and the push towards the Rhine) it was invaluable. He had to abandon it after the Rhine crossing, as a new CO thought it looked bad to be seen using enemy equipment, as it might give the impression it was superior. He ditched his German side arm for the same reason. I always slightly hankered after a Cossack combination after hearing his stories of "his" BMW. He was not a "motorcycle" person, but his eyes lit up when he was talking about that strange mechanical chimera.
I recall reading an article in the 70's in a cycle magazine that the Jawa CZ 350 was capable of reaching 100,000 miles,where people used it for their main form of transportation.Nice looking line of bikes,the bike at 3:43 looks like my 68' 125 twin Yamaha scrambler.
Brilliant, I have a couple myself, I'm an engineer and the engineering in these is awesome for the time, the MZ book is a great read on how Suzuki helped the rider defect, keep up the good videos
JAWAs used to be a regular sight in the 50s and 60s in Norway when I grew up. We all thought they were such cool bikes! Same with the later MZ models. Reliable and cool bikes!
@@bikerdood1100 Sadly, most of those rare old bikes that used to be hidden in garages and basements all over, ended up on the fillings as no one was interested in them at the time! Imagine having all of them now!
I think a video on 1960's 250 cc bikes of the kind I rode as a learner in that era would be interesting, the C15, Enfield Crusader, Matchless, Norton Jubilee and the various Villiers engined bikes would bring back memories for many of us.
I passed my bike test on a Jawa 350 with a sidecar. After the learner rules in the UK were changed to allow only up to 125cc as a solo motorcycle and introduced the CBT, they left the sidecar rules unchanged so we could have any size engine. It was a horrible pig of a thing but - it got me my full licence so no complaints
I had a 650 senior Neval, with a sidecar, fun machine, spare wheel on back of sidecar, all wheels where interchangable, and it had a reverse gear... which was great as long as you kept the speed low, otherwise you would end up with a reverse tankslapper, which was fun... The quality was not a good as Japanese bikes but it was simple to fix, if it was wet and you kick started often your foot would slip off the lever get trapped by the sidecar frame, only then to get the lever spring back against your shine... Most of the other owners had the same scar and limp. I had 2 mz one a etz and a 251, both where great machines . Cz Jawa 350 cc Twin was my first sidecar outfit ... Fun machine with its own smokescreen...
When I was a courier, the firm rented out bikes if our own machines were off the road: BMW R65 @ £60 pw or MZ ETZ250 @ £30 pw. The MZs were awesome. They just did what they did. Nothing else. No nonsense. Very buzzy through the handlebars, but neat, tidy, sufficiently peppy and utterly bulletproof. After a couple of days ragging one in and out of Central London, if you didn't love it you weren't human. Snobbery best left at the door.
my very first motorbike was a MZ150 i loved that bike..if i fell off and bent a part i could stick a long bar on it and bend it back. in the80s the MZ 150 , 250 and the CZ250 were not an uncommon sight inn the north of England because they were very cheap and reliable and you could work on them yourself with very little mechanical experience
My first real bike was an MZ 150 too. In fact I passed my test on it in 1978. And you're right. They were so basic and fixable. Every time one of the Japanese bikes my mates had went wrong they has to take it apart almost to fix it.
I always liked the honesty and ruggedness of the bikes. Over the years I have owned all of them except the flat twin 2 stroke. I did not keep the CZ scrambler long, as its rapid acceleration was a handful in traffic in the UK. I still have a 750cc Ural outfit, and an MZ 250 that run well and a Pleneta Sport 350 under construction. These three will see me out
Watched all your videos, all brilliant, very informative and entertaining and very professional. I have watched several more than once and find them addictive!
Some other obscure Russian bikes that were also sold in small numbers in the UK in the 70's were the IZH 350 Planeta which i remember a road tester in a motorcycle magazine describing it as the worst piece of junk he had ever ridden (or similar words to that effect). There was also the Cossack/Voskhod 175 of which i saw a few in the 80's WSK was a Polish brand that was available in the UK for a few years in the 70's but i never saw one. In the early 80's when me and my mates had Japanese 250's we used to ridicule the MZ250 on how ugly it was,nowadays though i have changed my view on them and could quite happily see myself owning one 😀
The Jawa/CZ, MZ and WSK bikes were available by mail order in the 1970s. Mail in the certified check to some address in NYC and a few weeks later a truck delivered a large crate right to your front door. You put it together. Simple, cheap and fun until Joan Claybrook and the EPA got their hooks into the 2-stroke engines and killed it all off.
I had an 1987 ETZ 250 for dispatch work in the early 90's and the only thing I could fault it for was the weak selector forks which would fail at around 45000 miles when you would lose 2nd gear shortly followed by 3rd gear which meant it was no longer useable. The selector forks would wear due to the soft alloy used in their manufacture and it was cheaper to replace the whole engine than get the parts to repair the gearbox! This is what I did, with an engine with 20000 miles on it and true to its nature, the gearbox on this too failed in the same way when it reached 45000 miles!
Thank you for another exelent collection, great bikes and great stories. In the mid ´70es I drove 50cc speedway, and woul like to get a 500cc Jawa, the till then best bike on the market, allthough the JAP still could make a good mark of itselves. But, but but... In came the Westland 4 valve engine, and it raighned supreme. But at a totaly different prize. So I turned to streetbikes, guitars and loose women instead, and had a lot of fun. ;o)
@@garymartin557 my first bike incidentally was a GS 125, a good economical bike but pretty average performance Mrs BD had an AR Kawasaki 2 stroke which was far quicker
Me and a mate toured Europe for a month in 1978, he was on an MZ TS250 and I was on a Yamaha RD200. Loads of breakdowns, sometimes due to my points burning out but mainly because my mate had a puncture the week before the trip and instead of replacing the inner tube, he patched it. It blew again and again resulting in having to remove all the luggage and the back wheel every time. Eventually his tyre walls gave up after running on the rims going through a contraflow in Lyon and we never found each other again until we were home.
My first bike was a brand spanking CZ 175. Cost £378 including a helmet and full tanks in 1978. I trashed it in two years, but boy did I have fun doing it.
Dood, you put out some great vids, & I hit the subscribe button. Thanks for the wonderful video, and a huge thanks for not ruining it with crappy background music. I don't know why some people are compelled to add annoying background music throughout their videos.
I did enjoy that video. Thank you so much for sharing. Very interesting motorcycles. I've heard of the MZ125 but never seen one in real life. I'd be interested in seeing a video on motorcycles produced in India and how that has led to the resurgence of that market with the success of Royal Enfield. What other Indian motorcycles were there?
MZ & CZ are very common where I grew up , poverty. Also used to see a number of the Russian made boxers. We have owned a couple of MZs over the years, pretty good fun to ride
Can do a video of the top BMW bikes? Pre 1960’s. The Bavaria cream puffs. Great channel BTW. Very informative. I’ve never heard of half of these bikes.
10:52: WHAT? MZ 350? That is very striking, never have seen a picture or heard a remote rumor of this! I would have wanted it! It's amazing! Where is the carburetor? I had that question earlier about one of the CZs I think. This is so amazing and beautiful!
Ah the boxer two stroke Quite a bit of kit, I’ve never seen one in person as it were, extremely rare beast I don’t believe it was ever sold in the Uk and I’d be surprised if many made it to the west Shame
I had a MZ 150 as a field bike when i was a teenager,not as refined as japanese bikes but very robust amazing what you could get for 30 pounds back then 👍
The bike in the thumbnail is it a mauds trophy bike??? I remember reading about a bsa A50 mauds trophy bike ridden by Norman vanhouse. . They look very similar.
They do crop up from time to time and in the UK you can still get them new I think from F1 motorcycles I’m not advertising for them but I’m sure I’ve seen them Maybe they will lend me one to test ride for the free advertising 😂
@@Backrun could do I did a video of riding a combination some time ago, I’ve ridden 3, an M23, a panther m100 and my own RE Bullet combo Mad things all
CZ and Skoda as well as Tatra way ahead of the times . CZ had fox style air shocks Tatra had a hemispheric rear air cooled V8 car in 1930s that VW copied . Japan and others used tech off CZ. We don't see many of these in America. Awesome 👍 Cheers
@@bikerdood1100 Jay Leno channel has one on the Tatra car 1938 Hemi rear engine v8 called "the nazi killer" since they drove to fast crashed so much during WW2. VW stole patents from Tatra .
In the 90s for holiday I would fly out hire a bike and go touring in Turkery on rental bikes. Jawa was apalling but the favorite of the Turks. You could pile it up with wife, two kids a goat and 5 chickens, go to market. It will not stop, will not turn, will not do anything well. However, Then I got an MZ 250 and it blew my mind. Perhaps the most fun bike ever. It was great onroad, offroad, badroad, goodroad, solo, two up. I had so much fun! Why? It was perfectly balanced in everything. You put it on a centre stand and you could lift the front wheel or the back wheel with an index finger. To be honest, not a pretty bike, but... I'm specialist, Norton, Ducati, Honda V4s, have crossed the Himmalayas on Royal Enfield BUT The Bike with the most charme and Fun, MZ 250.
In the Czech Republic Jawa are still producing last two stroke models, the 350/640 and 350/640 Retro, which looks like 350/634, but I don't think that they can be bought in the EU. Maybe, since Brexit, they could be bought and used in the UK... Unfortunately there is not enough people buying them, so they'll probably cease production soon. Yezdi motorcycles are still being made in India, but they unfortunately don't export to Australia, so I'll have to miss out on their 350 DOHC single; the Roadster looks rather tasty in a modern-classic way.
Yes the Czech built bikes are available through an importer but are quite expensive The Indian built 300 was briefly available in mainland Europe ( not the Uk ) but is no longer I believe, also quite expensive The parent company in Europe is concentrated it’s European efforts on BSA
@@bikerdood1100 The high pricing is ironic, isn't it? Back in the day, Iron Curtain machinery was successful partly on price. In 1963 I bought my new 250 Jawa (Pride & Clark, London) because of its price, quality and reliability. I've recently looked at the viability of doing a private import into Oz for both the Czech and Indian-built bikes, but both are too expensive for what they are and end up costing about the same as a new RE Interceptor.
Available way before Brexit, more expensive post Brexit , like so many items I’m afraid. I think that they are available in some EU countries. The OHC 300 was available in the EU but was never sold in the UK
Great chanel. It is full of interesting facts that I take Great pleasure in boring my mates to death in the pub with. They all say thank you as well. Keep up the good work .
You missed out IZH (Russia), Cespel (Hungary) & Junak (Poland). These were all imported into the UK, at one time or another. A handful of Cespel motorcycles were imported during the late 1950's, but failed to sell well, obviously due the name being rather close to sounding like Cesspool. Similarly, a few Polish Junak 350 4 stroke single motorcycles were imported during the 1960's. However the name sounds rather like "Eunuch"...... and we Brits have a warped sense of humour.
Great video, had over the years most the makes & models (except the Minsk and the 2 stroke twins) of the eastern bloc bikes, I liked them because they were cheap, simple (MZ's, CZ's and Dniepr's you could even dismantle and refurbish the rear shocks) and tough as old boots (fall off and usually it was busted indicator units and handlebar levers (both dirt cheap) and bent footpegs (straighten them up with piece of tube or pipe wrench)), didn't go half bad either especially if you retard the ignition timing to 1.8 mm btdc.
@@bikerdood1100 though I’m a bad chain caretaker I tried to get a closed chain protection for my last bike (Yamaha 600 Diversion). No chance. Since 2008 I ride a BMW R1150R mainly because I don’t have to bother with a chain.. Nice bike anyway.
When my younger years ended and I got married. I couldn't afford any longer the shiny japanese sport bikes. I started to ride MZ's. They where great, I had a good time visiting weekends of the Dutch MZ club.
we had a cossack jupiter 350 twin 2 stroke, we got it mot, d, dad rode it once in the wet, declaring it dangerous and he didnt ride it again, preferring honda cd175, s, it did have some cool features such as a lever by which the whole rear end could be removed as one unit.
That would be the barum tyres, rock hard rubber ok in dry terrible in wet. Changing the tyres makes a huge difference, because the chassis were pretty good, better than a lot of Japanese Machines of the time
@@bikerdood1100 Not sure the russian bikes would have been fitted with Barum tyres. CZ/Jawa motorcycles had Barum tyres. MZ's came fitted with Pneumants which weren't pleasant in the wet and was one of the first things to be replaced when funds allowed! Over the years I've had a few MZ's and one CZ. The MZ's were definately far better.
I thought the Cossack was a Ural, not a Dneiper. I have to admit having owned one, combo of course. Great fun when it went…nearly 50% of the time. Also a Mz 250 ES, my dad had the ETZ. Wish I still had the ES, such a unique design. Not only the weird tank, but leading ling forks, they rise up under breaking! Handled great in corners, but curiously felt odd going straight
@@bikerdood1100 …it was a long time ago, so I am not certain. I think you could buy a Ukrainian Dneiper and a Russian Cossack back then. The Dneiper had the square rocker covers, as you show. The Cossack, rounded, like the early BMW. Just looked at other info, mine was the 650, the 750 did have squarish covers.
In 1977 I bought my first 250 to ride on the road, MZ ts250 1 I had lots of problems with the selector forks, but otherwise it was a cheap bike to ride
Spanish, Mexican and South American bikes. That would be fun. Oh I had a Falta Replica Cz. It wasnt locked up, but in good shape. I never got it going. I sold it and regret doing so. Ive always wanted an Mz. Mainly because Im a Suzuki nut. It would be fun. Are the big latemodel Mz still around in Europe? are they hard to find?
Back in about 1975 Neval Minsk was selling a 125 with a full racing fairing. They were a complete bodge up and came ready rusted from the factory. They were god awful. My mate had a CZ175, god it was nasty, he only bought it because it was cheap and he was too tight to buy a decent bike.
There weren’t all two strokes at all But two strokes were cheap to make which is why they were so widely used in both the car and bike industries on both side of the iron curtain
I had a JAWA 350 ( 638 engine ) 1986 12 volts . The most un reliable motorcycle I ever had . It kept blowing regulators ,& boiling its battery ,often one cylinder cutting out. One morning it blew both baffles out it’s exhaust pipes ,& the rear brake lever disappeared on the M53 motorway . The final straw came when the bigs ends went ,the slack primary , ( no tensioner ) chain ripped clutch basket & crank case cover off & dumped it plus gear box oil ,in the gutter of a local high street . The front brake & clutch levers ,were made out of some type of nylon or plastic that flexed ,you had to make an appointment with the brakes in order to come to a halt . I ended up flogging it to some Jawa fanatic for 50 quid ,little did he know ,that I would of gladly have paid him to take the crock of sh💩t out of my sight . The only good things about it where the tyres & frame where surprisingly good. The owner also got a comprehensive owners tool kit supplied ,as the manufactures obviously knew ,the long suffering owner would often be using it at the roadside .
@@bikerdood1100 The MZ was a weird looking beast ,but better engineered & better electrics than the Jawas & C Z ‘s . If you were going down the budget route for a new machine they were a safer bet & could be sorted easier . These days the old Jawas can be made reliable with modern upgrades & electrics & are collectible . I stick to motorcycles with Japanese names no matter where they are produced as I never had one let me down . Every time I chose other brands I have had issues & regretted my purchase . 👍
@@maskedavenger2578 well we currently have 9 bikes between us one of which s Japanese is it more reliable than the others ? Hard to say as few of them give any trouble at all
@@bikerdood1100 The only bikes I have ever found to be reliable day in day out in all weather ,all year round in the U.K. are ones bearing one of the big 4 Japanese badges . I always found the old communist state manufactured bikes & Italian bikes to not be relied upon . Of those 9 bikes you mention ,how many of them get used in all weather frequently all year round . My motorcycles are not warm weather weekend toys they are my main transport & have to be 100 % reliable & earn their keep & justify me owning them .
@@maskedavenger2578 strangely managed to use my Guzzi for the 11 years I owned only my daily commute of 25 miles in all weathers I ride all year round I commute all year round So I’m afraid I’m calling BS on that one Even commuted every day on an MZ 250 for 2years I am not or have I ever been a fair weather biker Later this week I’ll be commuting between hospitals on guess what A non Japanese bike Gee I hope it makes it 😂 I have commuted on Japanese bikes also incidentally 1 x busted cam chain tensioner 1x blown top end And my favourite the seizure at 70 All hale Japan I thought as the wheel locked solid & that was a four stroke Then there was the Suzuki that ate plugs every few weeks 2x busted regulators 2x burnt out alternators Yeh Japan And then the rust When you actually do ride all year round you find out an awful lot about the bikes you ride
When l see bikes like this i'm reminded of one of my stupid mistakes in life. In the early 90's l was at a bike wreckers in Norfolk. I was picking up a HONDA Monkey bike rolling chassis for £25 and the guy running the shop said " You can take that as well, only needs a HT coil ...£25 ! ". It was one of those old JAWA street bikes with the tear drop tank and tear drop crank case/gearbox.....NEW (vintage but not used). I said no as l was worried what my wife would saaaayyyyyyy y y y 😭😭😭🤮🤮
